Top 16, Round 4 bwin MVP: Artsiom Parakhouski, Nizhny Novgorod

The ever-improving Artsiom Parakhouski was unstoppable on Friday in leading Nizhny Novgorod to a historic 109-90 victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul. The dominance of the first-year center also netted Parakhouski bwin MVP honors for Top 16 Round 4. He was Nizhny's top scorer with a season-high 27 points and racked up a performance index rating of 37, which was the most of any player in the Top 16 to date this season. Parakhouski was extremely efficient; he made 11 of 14 shots and was perfect in 5 trips to the foul line. He also added 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Last week's bwin MVP Nando De Colo starred again as CSKA Moscow routed Unicaja Malaga 101-74. De Colo posted an index rating of 32 after scoring 28 points on perfect shooting, including 4 three-pointers. De Colo also posted 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Another central figure in Nizhny's victory was the season's leading scorer Taylor Rochestie, who set a Top 16 record with 15 assists – several of them to Parakhouski. Rochestie, the Top 16 Round 1 bwin MVP, also scored 19 points, missed just 3 shots and committed only 1 turnover in compiling a performance index rating of 31. Rounding out the week's top performances were Zalgiris Kaunas big man Paulius Jankunas, former Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos Piraeus and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan scorer MarShon Brooks. Jankunas posted 18 points and 13 boards for an index rating of 30 in a 66-73 defeat at the hands of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. Spanoulis led the Reds to a come-from-behind 76-64 win over Olympiacos Piraeus with 27 points, 6 assists and 2 steals for a 28 index rating. Brooks put together what may go down as his breakout game in the Euroleague with 24 points in a 71-82 loss to Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul. Brooks, who also finished with an index rating of 28, was 8 for 8 from the foul line and also recorded 3 assists and 2 steals.

Individual leaders: Alex Tyus of Maccabi Electra, 6 blocks

De Colo's 28 points proved to be the most of any player in Top 16 Round 4. He is now the Top 16's top scorer with 19.3 points per game. Rochestie (19.3 ppg.) is the full-season scoring leader. Jankunas topped the rebounding charts for the week's games with 13 boards. Trey Thompkins of Nizhny now leads the Top 16 in rebounding with 9.3 per game; Boban Marjanovic of Crvena Zvzda Telekom Belgrade remains the season-long leader with 9.7 per game. Rochestie not only had the most assists in the round, but his 15 broke the Top 16 record, which had been set the night before by CSKA Moscow maestro Milos Teodosic, with 14. Maccabi point guard Jeremy Pargo is the Top 16's leading assist man with 7.5 per game, while Teodosic (7.9 apg.) remains at the top of the charts for the full season. Patric Young of Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul and reigning Euroleague MVP Sergio Rodriguez shared the Top 16 Round 4 lead with 4 steals each. Rodriguez's Real Madrid teammate Rudy Fernandez has the most steals in the Top 16 with an average of 2.5 per game. Alex Tyus of Maccabi blocked 6 shots on Friday to tie a club record and come within 1 of tying the Top 16 mark, set nearly a decade ago by Darjus Lavrinovic of Zalgiris. Tyus ties Parakhouski for the Top 16 lead with 2.75 blocks per game, while the Nizhny center remains in first for the season with an average of 2 per game. Six different players posted double doubles in Top 16 Round 4. They are Rochestie, Teodosic, Jankunas, Thompkins, Daniel Hackett of Milan and FC Barcelona's Ante Tomic.